I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years chapter 86

86 – The…Past? (5)

Gollan, who was a worker who came to construct the blacksmith guild headquarters and would work there as a rookie human blacksmith after its completion, was currently staring at one place with a strange expression.

In the place he was looking at, there was the guild leader of the blacksmith guild, whom he respected endlessly, Renade River, who should report the materials for today.

However, the reason why Gollan couldn’t easily approach her even though she was there was because of Lartania’s hero standing in front of River, Elena.

… More precisely, it seemed more accurate to say that it was because of the current between the two of them.

“Listening, I heard that you were well acquainted with the Lord from ten years ago.”

“Well, isn’t that so? We used to exchange various stories with my sworn brother from ten years ago.”

“I see. If it’s alright with you, could you share some stories about the Lord from ten years ago when you have time? I’m curious about the Lord from ten years ago, even though we talk a lot now.”

“I’ll tell you as much as you want to hear. But I can’t cover everything! There were really a lot of stories from ten years ago, considering we spent over a year together, just by the count of days.”

Looking at their conversation, it seemed ordinary.

Elena is smiling.

River is also smiling.

There’s no bad atmosphere at all.

Moreover, the topic of conversation was not particularly strange.

However, Gollan, in that space, was definitely feeling a strange current.

Really.

“But, if you’re the guild master of the Blacksmith Guild, shouldn’t you be in Norba Kingdom instead of Larthania Territory? I heard that you’re the guild master but residing in Larthania Territory.”

“Oh, the Blacksmith Guild doesn’t necessarily have to be tied to its headquarters. Besides, I wanted to work with my sworn brother, and of course, he gave permission too.”

“I see. Oh, I did hear it from the Lord. You’re not officially affiliated with the territory, but you help out. Thank you for assisting, even though you’re not from this territory.”

“…Sworn brothers are very close. I can do this much. Besides, in a few years, I’ll practically be part of the territory anyway.”

…A strange current.

Thus, Gollan continued to watch Elena and River’s peculiar conversation for a while.

A little later.

“Counting on you, alright?”

“Yes, I’m counting on you too.”

Gollan, watching Elena and River shake hands with smiling faces, remarked, “Well…”

Looking at the fellow blacksmith who was admiring the scene beside him, he spoke with a puzzled expression, “Why?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, I asked because you were admiring it again.”

“Oh, that? Just because it’s the first time seeing our guild leader, who’s usually so carefree, getting into a fight, it seemed a bit surprising.”

“…A fight?”

In response to Gollan’s puzzled question, the colleague, looking at him with an expression as if asking why he’s questioning something obvious, replied, “Yeah, a fight. Didn’t you see them just now, fighting like heroes?”

“Well, I did notice that the atmosphere was a bit unusual, but was that really a fight? Weren’t they just having a normal conversation?”

“Tsk, you’re so clueless.”

“…No, why did the conversation suddenly take that turn?”

Sighing, Gollan’s colleague said, “Because you’re so oblivious, I asked.”

“…No, does that mean there was a hidden meaning in that conversation?”

“Of course, isn’t that obvious? Now, listen carefully.”

The colleague began translating the conversation between Elena and River that happened a while ago.

“I heard that you were quite close to the lord from ten years ago.”

– Close to the lord from ten years ago?

[Hmm, is that so? We used to have all sorts of conversations like this with my friend ten years ago.]

– Yeah, we were much closer than you.

[I see. If it’s alright with you, would you mind telling me a bit about the conversations you had with Youngju ten years ago when you have the time? I always have a lot of conversations now, but I’m curious about the Youngju from ten years ago.]

– Is that really important? That’s just an old story, and what’s important is the present. You seem to be too caught up in memories from ten years ago.

[I’ll tell you as much as you want to hear. But I don’t think I can tell you everything, there were so many stories from ten years ago… Well, even if we calculate it by days, we were together for more than a year.]

– Even though it was ten years ago, I had more conversations than you did. I’ve only known you for a few months.

Soon after hearing that translation, Gollan responded with a bewildered expression.

“…No, I knew something was off with the current, but did they really talk like that?”

“Well, it’s just a rough tone.”

“…Then what was the next story?”

“It’s a similar story, really.”

Saying that, the colleague chuckled and lightly patted his shoulder.

“Well, if you want to report on the materials, it’s better to go a little later rather than now. I’m going now.”

With those words, he entered the construction guild headquarters that was being built.

Gollan, who had been watching him, muttered with a subtle expression.

“…Conversations between women are complicated in many ways.”

With that, he decided to report in about two hours.

####

—-

Second clue.

When the territory’s development reached 2000, you can obtain the second clue.

—-

“Hmm.”

Kim Hyun-woo, who had been staring at the second clue for a while, spoke as Elena entered the office with a knocking sound.

“Oh, you’re here?”

A few days ago, it was awkward, but now Elena greeted her with the familiar informal language she had become accustomed to, smiling.

“Yes, I came to deliver the message that if Mr. Lee needs anything, I will help, as Lord Yeongju said.”

“Oh? What did he say?”

“Well, it seems that he doesn’t need anything at the moment.”

Kim Hyun-woo nodded as if he understood Elena’s words, then soon came up with something.

“Oh, by the way, Elena. Do you know about ‘Outer Space’?”

“Outer Space?”

“Yes.”

Kim Hyun-woo immediately asked about the clue ‘Outer Space’ that appeared right after the quest was completed.

In fact, even if he tried to think about it alone, Kim Hyun-woo didn’t know anything about Outer Space.

Even when Kim Hyun-woo played Arteil by himself, he had never heard the name Outer Space.

“Loria doesn’t know when I asked her.”

He wondered if Elena knew about Outer Space and asked her.

After a moment of contemplation upon hearing his question, Elena shook her head and answered with a trembling voice.

“Well, as far as I know, I haven’t heard the word Outer Space before.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Haven’t you heard the story of the stars in a while? It’s been quite some time since the stars stopped appearing.”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

“No, I’m asking, what do you mean by the stars stopped appearing?”

At Kim Hyunwoo’s question, Elena made a somewhat incredulous expression, as if asking why he was suddenly asking such a question, but soon she explained.

“Well, it’s a straightforward story. It’s been about 6 or 7 years since the stars no longer appear in the night sky.”

“…The stars stopped appearing?”

“Yes.”

Kim Hyunwoo’s face displayed a peculiar expression in response to Elena’s answer.

In the world of Arteil that he knew, stars shone brightly in the night sky. It was understandable, considering that, according to Kim Hyunwoo’s knowledge, ‘stars’ in Arteil’s world had a very important plot point.

Of course, during the three years Kim Hyunwoo played, the significance of ‘stars’ as a setting had gradually faded after the early stages of Arteil. Still, whenever the night sky appeared, excessively bright stars were always shown, as if to prove the importance of stars in Arteil’s setting, leaving Kim Hyunwoo puzzled once again.

“…Alright, I got it for now.”

From Noble mtl dot com

Sending Elena away and a few hours later.

Realizing it had become night while making a magnifying glass, Kim Hyunwoo looked up at the sky.

“…Really.”

He noticed that the night sky, excluding the moonlight, was pitch black.

Despite being a fantasy world, the sky was so obscure that you couldn’t find a single star.

Kim Hyun-woo, who was staring blankly at it, looked back at the quest.

To obtain the clue “Otherworld” and the next clue, he had to complete a quest related to the designated territory development quest.

While looking at it, Kim Hyun-woo pondered for a while.

“…I should probably increase the development speed a bit.”

With that thought in mind, he looked at the quest.

In fact, Kim Hyun-woo had deliberately avoided looking at one fact all this time.

There was no clue to approach the truth even if he was curious, and the more he thought about the reality that he couldn’t go back, the more he felt like suffering from a severe nostalgia disease. That’s why he deliberately looked away.

However, the moment Kim Hyun-woo realized a way to obtain even a small clue about this world, he no longer needed to do that.

No, to be precise, he couldn’t turn his gaze away from reality anymore.

Honestly, he was more curious about why he ended up in this world than being overwhelmed by a severe nostalgia disease.

That’s why.

“…Can I do it within a month?”

Kim Hyun-woo set a goal and stared at the quest window.

And at that point, after about a week had passed.

In the southwest of the continent.

At a moment when there were only about 15 summoning circles left out of the 50.

Kaelba said,

[Ahem, I’m a bit busy. How about contacting Moruto instead of me?]

“…No,”

[You probably know, but I’ve been using a lot of power lately, so even if I go now, the chances of being able to use any significant power are low.]

“…No, wait.”

[What a regret. I accidentally entered the command zone yesterday, and my soul is damaged. It’s very difficult to manifest now.]

“…This is almost seven years-“

[I’m sorry. Then…!]

“…sigh.”

Already the fifth time, the commanders were making futile expressions as they hung up the phone, as if escaping. Soon, their gaze turned to a man in the distance.

“Sigh, when are they going to summon us…?”

“Well, it seems like we’ll be summoned soon.”

“Remember, it’s fifty-fifty, okay?”

“Hmph, don’t act like you’ll eat more than your share, you scoundrel.”

Without breaking the summoning circle, Merrill and Rin sat there, waiting for demons to come out.

“…This darn-“

The man, Kelba, tightly closed his eyes.